The Promise
by ernestgoestocamp
Summary: [A Courage The Cowardly Dog TF fanfic] [Cover Art by ToastyGoodness] When your life turns upside down forever because of one man, can you ever forgive him for his past mistakes? How can somebody responsible for your suffering become your best friend in the most dire of times? How can that somebody keep a promise after lying and hurting you?


"When are you going to grow up!?" The mysterious voice radiates from a television set. The sound bounces off the walls of a small room. It is brightly lit, the closet is tightly shut, and the bed covers block the bottom of the bed from sight. A young man, in his early twenties, sits on a chair calmly and watches television.

It is 9:56PM and his favorite show is about to end, which brings chills…because he would need to turn off the lights to sleep. The darkness has always made him uncomfortable. His phobias and fears of what's under the bed and what's inside the closet was a secret even to his closet companions. The only people who would never laugh at such a ridiculous personality are his parents, but they were two-hundred miles away.

The show ends and he turns off the T.V., along with his computer, and gets into his pajamas. He turns off the lights and quickly hops on the bed. He places the bed sheets over his head and closes his eyes.

…

The next morning, he wakes up, takes a shower, gets dressed, and leaves his small apartment to check his mail downstairs. He finds only one letter and reads it: _To Jeese, From Your Old Folks at Home_

He opens the letter and soon lowers his head in distress.

Jeese leaves the building. The young man walks down a street. It is the town of nowhere and it is one of the strangest places to visit or live in. The people who walk by the young student have very creepy faces and most are alien in nature. Jeese could swear that some of these people are actually aliens wearing some human costume: it always made him uncomfortable and would sometimes make him panic; however, this was the only place where he could afford to get a decent education with as little as money as possible.

Jeese heads toward a payphone where he calls his parents. It takes two tries but he finally reaches them.

"Hi mom…yes…yes I know but I really want this. I'm trying my best."

The voice on the other side talks fast and is mostly gibberish if one hears from afar.

"...you want me to come to the house and stay for the weekend? I'll think about it. Okay, I love you…see you soon." Jeese hangs up and walks back to his apartment.

The young student heads back inside the apartment and entered his room. He sits on his bed before looking straight at a full-bodied mirror. He's wearing a simple shirt, and does not wear a jacket unless it's cold outside the town. He wears simple jeans and shoes as well. The hat he wears was given to him by his father who is a farmer.

Jesse stands up from the bed and sits down on his chair next to the computer. He turns it on. Soon after, the screen turns greenish and a sigh escapes from the speakers.

He begins typing on the computer, "Bus…ticket…nowhere."

 _I cannot fathom as to why you would return to that farm._

Jesse stares at the monitor and says nothing.

 _Always the silent treatment with you unless you're frantic about something._

Jesse presses the 'enter' key once again on the keyboard.

 _I would appreciate it if you don't do that again._

Jesse taps his foot repeatedly before a noise is made by the computer.

 _Search found. I am thrilled to say that you have no means to travel by bus this weekend. Perhaps you can put your thumb out and hope somebody in nowhere comes along instead…someone who's not abnormal and is not a sociopath._

Jesse crosses his arms, "There has to be another way." He says while typing it.

 _There definitely is, you twit…it involves the latter._

Jesse gulps nervously.

…

Jesse waits at a bus stop with a backpack and a small luggage. It's dusk and it's cold outside. The young adult wears a jacket but is still shivering, but it's not from the cold. A truck pulls up as Jesse confirms who it is.

"You must be-"

"Taylor, and you're Jesse, I assume?" The man looked normal compared to other citizens in nowhere, and he didn't seem to look like a sociopath. His voice is calm and baking with a deep southern accent. He loads the luggage on the backseat and sits in the front next to Taylor. The car drives out the town of nowhere and eventually the environment consists of miles of dirt and nothing more.

As Taylor drives, Jesse keeps to himself and watches the scenery, if there is any, outside his window.

"Car broke down?"

Jesse snaps out of his trance and looks at the older man, "No, I don't drive, I take a bus but it wasn't working today."

"I see. Your address is strange; you live here in the middle of nowhere?"

"Visiting." The student retorts.

Taylor stays quiet afterwards and Jesse feels awkward because of it. Eventually, however, he asks the young man, "You a student?"

"Yes." Jesse says calmly.

He nods, "So am I." The driver responds.

"Really? Like what?"

"Fabric, sewing, the works." Taylor says before he uses the turn signal.

"I would never imagine you doing that…I mean...don't be offended." Jesse says.

"No worries, I get that a lot. I need to stop at the diner for a second and use the bathroom. Want me to get you something?"

Jesse thinks about it, the trip will take another hour and he really didn't have anything to drink earlier, "A soft drink, please."

"You got it, be right back. Change the radio if you like."

A few minutes pass before Taylor returns with two drinks and gives one to Jesse, "Thank you." Jesse says.

"Ready?"

Jesse nods before the truck drives off.

Jesse drinks from his soda, "It said on your page that you take people from nowhere to the next town down this road. Do you drive a lot of people?"

"Oh yes, but business has been rough lately." Taylor says.

"Shame." Jesse simply says before taking another sip again, "You're probably the most normal person I've met today."

"It's nowhere, nobody is normal here. Besides, how can you say what's normal. People do weird things all the time, we either hide it or show it. If we hide it, we usually keep it a secret, right?" Taylor explains, "I mean…some secrets are best kept secret."

Jesse remains quiet.

"So what are you studying?"

Jesse yawns, "Agriculture. I love growing plants."

"I see. Well, if you manage to grow anything around here, you'll win the Nobel prize for sure."

Jesse yawns again, he starts feeling tired, "Weird…"

"What's the matter?" Taylor asks.

"Why do I…suddenly…feel…strange…" The young adult's vision begins to colorize in strange ways as noises around him echo tremendously, "What…was…in…that…"

Taylor impassively takes the drink away from the boy before he continues to drive, "Sorry."

Jesse blacks out.

…

The next time Jesse is conscious, noise around him echoes once again in such a manner that makes his head hurt drastically. His vision is blurry, and his body is not responding properly as he wishes. The student swears that he can hear voices nearby but the echoing does not stop. Eventually, however, everything settles into place and his vertigo goes away, at least to an extent.

"This is him." A voice says before Jesse looks around the room. His vision is still blurry but now he can at least make out the room he's in. He reacts almost instantly, he tries to stand up but his head comes into contact with the ceiling. He grabs his head and groans loudly.

"Looks a little weird, what did you give him." A man says with a country accent.

"The same stuff we've been getting from suppliers all these years, Jeff." The voice of Taylor is heard.

Jesse's vision improves and he can make out the areas inside his prison cell, which isn't much to marvel at. He sees the door open and something is placed inside for him. At first he moves back, away from it in a panicky fashion, but it's only a mirror. It's rather big, and Jesse hasn't figured out yet that the two men in front of him are much bigger than he is: Jesse's instinct tells him that it's probably the effects of the drug Taylor gave him. He would be angry right now but he was honestly afraid of what was happening and was too confused.

"I'm not sure our buyer is ganna want him." Taylor says.

"Who cares, he's just like the others." Jeff says before lighting a cigarette in front of Jesse's prison cell.

"When do you wanna get done with him?" Taylor asks.

"Tonight."

"Alright, I'll get rid of the truck, the usual routine."

"Be back here in an hour." Jeff leaves the area while Taylor crouches down to meet Jesse eye to eye. The twenty year old student's vision has returned to normal and he has his back against the wall of his cell as a result of Taylor's action.

"Do you know what's going on yet? Can you understand me? You look like you're still in there, and that perplexes me 'cause that doesn't usually happen."

Jesse tries to respond but is unable to. All he can do is stay where he is.

Taylor brandishes a small item to him, "This is chloral hydrate, and it's used to treat people with sleep problems. I laced your soda back at the Diner, although you probably knew that the moment you fell ill. You see, we need your help. We have a business around here to keep running or else Jeff and I and a hundred and twenty of our associates are boned. I'm sorry but your stuff and the truck I brought you in will be destroyed. I'm going to make it seem like it was an accident, 'cause that's what I do. I'm going to make it seem like you and I died tonight and there's nothing left of you, or me, but bits and pieces of the wreck. This is standard procedure, nothing special. The formula Jeff gave you looks like it's wearing off. I left you this mirror to keep yourself busy." He closes the cell and stands up and walks away.

Now alone, Jesse walks toward the object near the door. Not even attempting to pick it up, he moves his head over the mirror…and almost faints. His reflection is that of a confused and weird looking canine. He backs away quickly and falls on his back in terror, yelping in the process.

 _This can't be real_ , He thinks to himself.

 _It can't._

Curiosity sets in again before he takes another look: the first thing he sees are his ears, which have moved to the top of his head and are now covered in brown fur. The next thing he examines is his face and it's now covered in thousands of purple hairs. He grabs the protrusion on his face; it appears as though his nose extended and is now the same color as his ears. Even his eyes have changed and are no longer blue in color but are a shade of dark brown instead. He stares at his eyes for a while before deciding to examine the rest of his body.

He picks up the mirror with his hands, or now known as his paws.

His teeth have become quite yellow in color and he now has a large noticeable piece missing on one of his molars. The purple hairs cover every part of his body. Jesse turns around, while still holding the mirror, and finds three black spots, with one that has a white spot in its center, on his back. He also finds a small purple tail, to which he shivers at the sight of.

At that very moment, Jesse tries to tell himself that he's still under the effects of the drugs, or maybe it's a lucid dream that he is having; however, deep inside, he knew it was real. Somehow he knew that the life he had as a human ended and there was no going back: it all felt too real for him, as no dream would ever be as convincing as the one he is apparently having. He walks towards the door and sits beside it, he lowers his head down and lets it rest on the cold metal floor.

An immeasurable amount of time passed by since Taylor left; Jeff enters and crouches to meet Jesse eye to eye. The human-turned dog immediately backs away and hits his back against the wall of the cage. Jeff says, "Alright little doggy, your turn." He smiles before Jesse gasps from intense fear. The elderly man opens the cage and Jesse desperately tries to fight back, he flings his arms all over the place. Jeff manages to grab the dog. Jesse thinks of other alternatives, and eventually comes up with a new strategy: he bites Jeff. Unfortunately, despite a painful shout from the man, Jeff is still holding on to Jesse and calls the aid of another man in the room, "Don't make this harder than it needs to be!" The elderly man quickly takes him to a table where the recently transformed dog is held down.

He picks up a syringe from the table next to Jesse, which makes the dog struggle even more, "Calm down! This won't-"

"Let him go Jeff." A voice is heard from across the room. Both men turn to look, including the dog, who gives a quick cock eye. Taylor stands with his jacket holstered on his shoulder, "The buyer isn't interested in him."

"Then what the hell do we do with him?" Jeff shouts, "I ain't taking care of no dog…"

"Let him go."

Jeff slams the syringe on the table. He lets go of the dog while the other man also lets go. Jeff silently walks away while checking the wound on his hand.

Taylor heads to Jesse and stops next to him, his size easily makes the dog extremely nervous, yet the mutated beagle is still strangely thankful that this man just saved his life.

"Go on, get back to work." He says to the other man before he obliges. Taylor grabs a chair from the end of the room. He sits down beside the table. The room is now silent and stays that way for an unknown amount of time until Taylor speaks, "Listen, what's done is done. I can't really do much for you, but I got a pitch that you just might wanna catch. Come here." He tries to grab the canine, but Jesse panics and tries to escape; however, he is easily captured and is taken back to his new home.

He puts the mutt inside and closes it shut, "I'm leaving. When I come back with Jeff, two things might happen: one, Jeff finds another dealer to buy you. Two, you come with me and you stay with me." Taylor doesn't even need to wait because Jesse quickly approaches the bars of the cage and desperately begs to be taken.

"You'll see what it is tomorrow." Taylor stands up and puts on his jacket before laughing, "You're no ordinary dog. Usually the people we turn into dogs don't know a thing or two that goes on. No point in killing you for fur. You're like one in a billion. I ain't making any promises though." He walks away before the sound of a door closing is heard. Jesse collapses on the cold metal floor and begins to cry repeatedly.

His entire life changed in an instant and now he's nothing more than a dog. Despite his unique features, he is unable to talk, unable to walk, and unable to live the way he used to. It has dawned upon him now that nobody will look at him the same way again.

Soon after the lights turn off, a single sorrowful howl echoes throughout the kennel.

…

Jesse opens his eyes quickly with surprise; the sound of a metal door opening slowly can be heard. He hears footsteps and with each step getting louder, his teeth chatter nervously. He whines continuously just before the footsteps stop by his cage. A man crouches down to meet him: it's Jeff. Jesse responds by moving to the back of the cage. Jeff silently opens it and says in a threatening manner, "You better not bite me again, mutt." He reaches for the dog and grabs him. Jesse allows him to do so, if not only for a second, but as soon as Jeff makes his way to the metal door with him, fear overwhelms the young dog; however, it's too late. Jeff opens the door and brightness blinds Jesse for a short period of time. It is soon apparent that they are now outside.

"Don't bring him back, you hear?" Jeff says to a man standing in front of Jesse. The old man sets him down on the dirt and the canine looks up to see Taylor standing above him.

"Don't worry, he won't even think about it." Taylor retorts with an inexpressive tone.

"Good, now get him out of my sight." Jeff says before walking back inside the building alone. Taylor smiles and goes to pick up Jesse, but the dog had other plans instead. He tries to run away but his new feet do not allow him to do so; his experience with his new hind legs hinder his ability to walk or run fast. He falls flat on his stomach before trying again.

"That's not smart. Even if you could run, where would you go? You don't even know where we are."

Jesse turns around to face the man as his anxiety levels rise rapidly.

"Don't make this harder than it needs to be. Besides, I got good news."

…

Taylor drives his car down a long narrow road in the middle of nowhere. Jesse sits in the passenger seat next to him and his expression is that of concern. The human hums a tune while he drives the car. Jesse raises an eyebrow at this and whines at the man.

Taylor looks down and smirks slightly, "Glad to be out of there?"

Jesse, for the first time since his transformation into a dog, smiles slightly, if only just barely, at the man's question.

"At least you won't be skinned alive now, pup." Silence takes over before he speaks again, "We're almost there."

Within a few minutes, the car pulls up to a house on the side of the seemingly endless road. Taylor turns off the ignition and faces Jesse, "I want to make something clear. If you want to scamper, that's on you. If you wanna settle, you're welcomed to stay. It's your choice." He opens the door of the car and gets out. He goes to the other side and opens Jesse's door and gestures him to get out to which he does soon after. The pink dog stares at the house and sighs softly. He contemplates running away but he risks the likelihood of dying of dehydration before he finds somebody within fifty-miles. It's as if he is on a boat in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. His stomach growls soon after. The young canine hasn't eaten anything over the past day or two, so his instincts take over and he follows the man inside the house.

…

Two months later…

The setting is a small parlor room with a long couch and a Turkish rug to compliment the scenery. Across from the furniture are a cuckoo clock on the wall and a full-body mirror on the floor below it. A pink dog stares silently at the mirror in front of him. Eventually, he tries to adjust a blue collar, which surrounds his neck, with his small paws. A name-tag can be seen: it reads, Jesse. He eventually surrenders to the collar and leaves it on before he again remains transfixed on the mirror. A man enters the room with a plate of food and stops momentarily to see his dog.

"Food's getting cold."

He waits several moments, examining the dog across the room. He soon leaves the room and returns without the plate to kneel down beside the canine. He notices that the collar is on too tightly and helps by readjusting it. The small creature looks up at him and whines.

"That should be better for you. Come, I've got your favorite." He stands up and walks away to which the dog follows.

Now in the kitchen area, he picks up the dog and places him on a chair next to a table. The chair has a book on it to give Jesse the ability to eat at the table. After placing two plates on the table, Taylor sits down and the two begin to eat. The atmosphere is almost silent: Taylor reads a periodical between his bites while Jesse eats his food rather loudly with satisfaction. He enjoys it since it's food that Taylor cooked for the both of them, food he used to eat when he was human. The human, however, lowers his paper and raises an eyebrow before returning to his routine, obviously annoyed yet reserved about the situation. The canine finishes his food and licks his mouth with his tongue.

Jesse tries to tell Taylor that he wants more but all he does is speak dog gibberish, which makes Taylor lower his paper again; however, instead of reacting aggressively, he stands up and serves the dog seconds. After quickly devouring the plate again, Jesse smiles, displaying the large amounts of food stuck between his teeth: he makes a deep laugh of pleasure as a result.

After eating, Taylor goes to the parlor room, and sits down on the couch to rest. Jesse takes this time of the day to learn how to walk on two feet without using his front hinds. Already used to his attempts, and even thinking it was impossible, Taylor watches with losing interest. He instead silently stares at a portrait on the wall.

However, having practiced for weeks, Jesse feels much more confident being able to impress Taylor once again. His legs wobble as he stands for several seconds without help. Now was the real test: moving on two feet. He whines before closing his eyes. He moves the left first, then the right. Expecting the worst, he instead finds that he is still standing. He opens one eye and eventually gasps with happiness. He calls to his owner to which the human sees and laughs, "Now let's see if you can walk to the kitchen."

"Mmmhmm!" Jesse nods before moving slowly once more.

Unbeknownst to the both of them, a mouse comes out of a hole from the wall and heads for the mirror, which has some food crumbs littered around it. As Jesse makes a step forward, he hears squeaking. He stops, turns his head to the source of the noise, and looks down at the perpetrator. He stares for several seconds before the mouse looks at him and squeaks louder than before.

"Ahhhhghhh!" He yells which throws him off balance causing him to hit the floor flat on his stomach. The mouse runs back to its den with food.

"It's just a mouse…were you really this scared when you were human." Taylor asks.

Jesse didn't really want to admit it, so he stares down at the rug to avoid eye contact.

"Well, you're not the only one scared of little things. There's a lot of critters people are scared of, same as you." The man gestures the kitchen, "Now I do think you were going to prove me wrong just now."

Jesse looks up and smiles softly. He stands on two feet, with more or less the same wobbling as before, and slowly and carefully walks toward Taylor. The man's expression changes completely as the dog finishes his feat. Taylor kneels down next to him soon after Jesse returns to sitting on all fours. He simply pats the dog on his head and stares into his eyes for a split second. Then, he quietly leaves the room, which leaves the canine quite puzzled.

After night falls, the young dog is chewing on a boot outside on the front porch. Next to him is Taylor, who is in quite a trance. As Jesse continues chewing the boot, within several minutes, he suddenly feels somebody embrace him as warm drops of water hit his head.

"I'm sorry…" It is all the man says as he cries on top of the dog, the amount of tears increases as time goes by. All Jesse can do is to try and forgive him. Despite living with him for two solid months, he never forgot the day, the day his life was ruined by this very man, yet he felt pity…and he didn't know why. He could have tried to get his revenge, but he didn't: it was probably because his dog instincts prevented him from doing so; he saw Taylor as the only person who could take care of him during the initial days and weeks of living as a dog.

Two solid months was how long it took to break this man down completely.

"One of the last days I saw my son was a few weeks before I took you…"

Jesse looks up at the man.

"…the last thing he did, before Molly took him away from me, was learn how to walk…he…walked to me first…to me…his father…I'm…never going to see him again…" He breaks down even more.

Jesse lowers his head once more, on the verge of crying, but tries to hold it back.

"I ruined my family...I ruined other families….and I ruined you…I'm sorry…I'm…sorry."

Jesse begins to whine. He licks the tears off the man's face. Taylor, in response, turns the dog around slowly and he stares down at the canine, both of them look at each other without blinking, "I promise…I promise I'll take you to your family…"

…

Several days later…

Jesse plays outside with an orange Yo Yo which Taylor gave to him a few days earlier. Taylor, on the other hand, is in the kitchen cooking lunch for the both of them. He hums a tune by The Carter Family. Then, the phone on the wall rings and he stops what he's doing and answers.

"Yes, hello?"

"Taylor, it's been a while." Jeff is heard on the other line.

"Yes?" Taylor retorts.

"…It's our new employee…he's…look, Imma cut to the chase here…we need you back…you were the best bringing them folks here for the fur." Jeff explains.

"I do believe we had a conversation the last time we spoke and I do remember I said…I am done." Taylor states his assertiveness.

"I promise I will pay generous amounts."

"I am humbled by your unusual display of humility, but the answer is still no. Is there anything else you would like to discuss before I hang up?"

"Don't do this Taylor…we need you back!" Taylor hangs up the phone just as Jeff finishes his sentence.

He returns to the stove and continues to hum the same tune.

Outside, Jesse continues to play with his toy until Taylor comes out and kneels down next to him. He runs his hands across the dog's furry head which gets Jesse to smile in comfort.

"Lunch is ready, mutt."

Taylor returns to the house with Jesse, who can now walk regularly on two legs.

As the both of them eat at the table, Taylor hears the phone ring again but ignores it. Within a few seconds after it ends ringing, it starts again. The middle-aged man stands up, picks up the phone, and then slams it before returning to his chair. Jesse looks at him with a raised eyebrow.

"I found your address."

The pink dog stops eating and looks up with glee.

"I'm taking you to the farm house first thing tomorrow."

…

It's once again night time and it's raining quite generously outside. Taylor is on the couch with Jesse, who is sleeping beside him. Taylor stares at the portrait on the wall without any hint of blinking; however, that soon changes when the front door knocks. Jesse wakes up and is startled which leads to him howling in fear. The human responds by petting him on the head softly, "I'll be back."

The man opens the door and is about to close it in a hurry but it is forcefully opened once again by a large man holding a long plank. Taylor takes several steps back as Jesse looks from across the room, he immediately hides on the other side of the couch.

Another man appears and is revealed to be Jeff.

"I gave you a chance." Jeff hits his rival with a similar wooden plank. Taylor tries to fight back but the large man joins in the assault and he is soon submissive to the two men. One strong blow from Jeff and Taylor falls on his back, blood spills from his face before receiving another blow from Jeff to the stomach.

"Grab him and take him to the truck."

It is no effort for the large man to restrain the beaten and exhausted Taylor, "I'll make sure the dog isn't around." Jeff walks toward the parlor room and searches for the canine. Jesse, the pink dog, hides while shaking uncontrollably from fear, mumbling to himself in the process. As Jeff walks around the couch, Jesse tries his best to do the same to remain hidden. Eventually, the elderly man gives up and leaves. Despite being completely scared from what just happened, Jesse tries all he can to rescue Taylor. He leaves the room by the kitchen to exit the door out back. Before he leaves, he smells gasoline inside the house to which he sees the same man using a gas can to litter the house with fuel. He gasps loudly before Jeff takes out a lighter and throws it on the ground nearby: flames quickly engulf the room. Without much thinking, Jesse quickly runs back into the parlor room, directly into the dangerous path of the fire, and jumps to grab something from the wall. He quickly stuffs it underneath his fur. Afterwards, he hurriedly leaves the house through the kitchen. He circles the property to reach the front of the house. There, he sees Taylor in the front seat. The back of the truck is open for him to jump in. He prepares himself and jumps high into the back of the truck. Soon after, he sees something land inside: the gas can. As soon as the car starts, he looks up to see the entire house in flames. The dog, with a worried expression, hides himself again as the truck drives off into the distance.

…

A loud screeching can be heard as the truck comes to a sudden halt outside a two-story building. Two men quickly get out carrying an unconscious man and take him inside the factory. Once they are gone, Jesse raises one of his ears to make sure the coast is clear. Afterwards, he jumps off the truck and quietly advances toward the lair. He figures that it would be too dangerous to go through the front door, so he circles the building to find another way inside. He finds a small window on the ground, opened halfway: he tries to crawl through it but his collar gets stuck before he can make it through the entire way. He struggles to fix the collar but instead allows it to come off his neck to which it hangs above him: unreachable.

Now inside the building, the courageous, but not so courageous, dog walks on two legs through a dark room. He shivers from both the cold and numerous objects in the background which he cannot see. Once he reaches the door, he jumps and opens it with his paw. Light enters the room and he looks behind him and screams in terror: the objects hanging by the wall are numerous coats of dog fur, some of which are stained with blood. His yell attracts the attention of one of the workers who enters to search for the intruder: the person turns on the lights and searches the room. The worker finds a hanging purple fur coat near the others but thinks nothing of it and decides to leave. Once gone, the purple coat comes alive as Jesse, who shivers from extreme anxiety.

The pink canine steps outside the room and quietly treks down a corridor. With no clue on where to go, he uses the signs on the walls to guide him. He passes by two large twin doors but eventually returns when he hears the voice of Jeff. He slowly looks into the room and sees Taylor strapped into a chair next to numerous machines processing the fur and other products. Beside him are the two men.

"You should have never left. You were our best man, you're the reason we have this business in the first place!"

Taylor does not speak back to his former employer; his face is bruised and bleeding. Jeff, despite this, grabs the man's chin and tries to get his attention, "Before I give you this, I want you to make sure that I never intended to turn YOU, of all people, into a dog…but you leave me with no choice-"

Jesse sees an unusually large syringe filled with strange liquid which Jeff is holding. Running out of time, Jesse hops up and down repeatedly, mumbling to himself, before an idea crosses his mind. He tries to find a fire alarm and eventually is able to. He jumps in the air to grab the switch but fails the first time. He tries again and it fails a second time. He grabs his ears and howls in frustration. Soon, however, another idea crosses his mind. He looks into his coat of fur and takes out his Yo Yo. He uses the toy to latch on to the switch and pulls down hard. The lights all over the factory turn off before red lights replace them. A loud and obnoxious klaxon alarm is then heard screeching from numerous sirens. Jeff immediately puts the syringe down next to Taylor and gestures the other man to investigate.

The surge of workers leaving the building provides cover for Jesse as he makes his way back to the main facility. Unfortunately, he is spotted by Jeff's henchman.

"Hey!"

"Ahhhgghhhh!" Jesse screams before disappearing into the crowd of workers.

"Come back here, mutt!" The large man searches the area as Jesse passes by him quietly to get to Taylor, "There you are!" The man shouts before Jesse gasps. The dog runs on two legs back the way he came with the man following right behind him. The mutated dog enters the same dark room he came in through. The man enters and tries to turn on the lights but it's no use. He searches the dark room, "…where are you?" He searches the fur coats and once again there is a purple one.

"What is t-"

"Arrgghhh!" Jesse shouts face to face with the man: who yells like a female singer hitting an F6. He runs out of the room after dropping his wooden plank. The large man runs out of the building, gets in his car, and drives off.

Jesse jumps down and sits on all fours very briefly and looks out the door with a raised eyebrow, confused about what had just occurred. He quickly runs out of the room and into the factory's main area where Jeff is nowhere to be seen. Taylor is still stuck to the chair and Jesse quickly tries to free him. He bites on the restrains and, unbeknownst to him, manages to damage one of them.

"It's you!" Jeff catches eye of the dog and shouts in surprise, he is carrying the same wooden plank he had earlier.

Jesse jumps off the chair and holds his muzzle with his two paws.

"You should have stayed in that house instead of following us here." Jeff attacks and the dog screams as he barely dodges the assault. The canine runs into multiple small areas of a large machine; Jeff tries to follow but he can't, "Oh, you think you can hide in there forever!? Do you even know where you are!?" He laughs before he goes to a switch and turns on the machine. Suddenly, the space between Jesse began to move him around until he had no other option but to leave the cramped area. Jeff prepares to swing his weapon once more and tries to hit his target as it moves across the machine.

"Stand still you stupid dog!" He swings the plank and it gets stuck between the machine, and this frustrates the man even further. Jesse runs out of areas to escape and reaches a dead end: this allows the elderly man to grab the dog. He manages to take Jesse out of the machine and he throws him down on the ground where he begins choking him.

"Be a good dog and play dead for me!" The man laughs before something stabs him in the back: it's Taylor. Jeff yells in agony before letting go of Jesse and he turns around to see his former friend who is holding the syringe in his hand.

"What have you done!?" He shouts as loud as he can, "YOU STUPID MAN!"

"It's over." Taylor softly says. Suddenly, the machine behind them begins to malfunction because of the plank. The three fall down after the building starts shaking violently. Jesse, seeing that Taylor is too weak to run, picks the human up and holds him above his head. The feat is unspeakable and it's unusual, but Jesse doesn't question his ability right now and instead carries the injured man out of the building. Jeff stays behind and holds the syringe with his hands. He stares at it as the machine behind him turns red and begins to expel flames. The dog and his owner manage to escape in time to see the building begin to wobble. Jesse puts Taylor in the driver's seat and he finds the keys hidden inside the visor. The man, with all the energy he has left, stomps on the accelerator and the truck drives away just before the building explodes and becomes an unrecognizable heap of debris.

…

A few minutes later the truck stops to the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. Taylor turns off the ignition and looks down at his dog, who looks up at him in return. Taylor is severely injured but made a promise to him. He runs his hands across the dog's head and then scratches Jesse's chin which catches him completely off guard, but he allows Taylor to continue petting him. Taylor smiles, "Your farmhouse isn't that far away. When we get there…I want you to stay there…you'll be a lot safer with your folks."

Jesse stands up and whines, obviously worried for this man's wellbeing.

"Calm down."

Silence fills the air for several seconds until Taylor softly says, "Thank you…thank you for helping me see. Even if you didn't rescue me back at the factory, you still saved me…you made me realize who I was…and I thank you for that."

Time passes by and the truck pulls over to the side of the road where a farmhouse, a windmill, and a green truck can be seen. Taylor turns off the ignition and sees Jesse's joy and anticipation to see his parents once more.

"You have guts, you stupid mutt." The man jokingly says, "Despite being scared of so many things, with all your imperfections you can do anything." He says.

Jesse smiles and nods just before Taylor opens his car door.

The duo stands on the front porch and the middle-aged father knocks on the green door.

"We don't want any!" A man shouts from inside before an elderly woman opens the door and smiles, "Oh! It's a small dog on our porch, Eustace!"

Jesse immediately hugs the lady tightly and begins crying softly.

"You poor thing…out there all by yourself…and you look so sad…come in, I know what will make you happy. I have happy plums ready to eat in the kitchen!"

"Muriel, shut the door. It's cold outside!" The man shouts again.

Jesse looks behind him and gasps in confusion: Taylor is nowhere to be found. Even his truck is gone. The dog looks down on the ground in sadness but enters the house anyways.

Inside the house, a man reading a newspaper is seen sitting on a red chair. Muriel leads Jesse into the kitchen without the old man noticing his presence. Already familiar with the location, he goes to sit down on his favorite chair at the table while his human mother sets the plums next to him. Grabbing the cup, he swallows the plums joyfully before Muriel says, "You look quite cold, dear. I'll get you a blanket to wear." She leaves the room.

After she does, Jesse continues to eat before he hears someone call him from outside. He turns and gasps when he sees Taylor on the other side of the window. Quickly and without hesitation, the dog runs out the door to greet his owner.

"Goodbye Jesse." He crouches down and pets the dog one last time before Jesse jumps and hugs the human. The both of them keep the hug for several seconds as Jesse erupts into tears. Taylor breaks the reunion and walks away to his truck; however, Jesse isn't finished saying goodbye to his friend yet. He reaches into his fur and takes out an item. He runs to Taylor and jumps up and down while mumbling. The man grabs it and is immediately stunned, "You…saved this?"

Jesse nods repeatedly.

Taylor cannot contain his emotions anymore and tears up once again in front of the dog. In his hand is the portrait of him and his family: the one he had held dearly to him, rarely taking his eyes off it, and it was saved from the fire thanks to Jesse. He kneels down and forcefully grabs the dog into another hug, "Don't ever change, you hear…don't, or I'll be back and it won't end well for you!" He jokingly says, "Goodbye."

He gets into his car and looks at Jesse one last time through the wing mirror before driving off into the horizon. Jesse sighs softly and returns to the house. He closes the door to the outside and sits back on the chair, silently looking back at the last couple of days. Muriel enters with the blanket and wraps it around the dog, "There you go sweetie." She sits down next to him and smiles, "What courage you have, would you like to stay here with us for the night?"

Jesse nods happily.

"You can sleep beside me if you like…oh dear." She gasps. Jesse looks at her with confusion.

"I don't know your name. Do you have a name?"

Jesse thinks hard on whether to let her know who he is or not, but the truth is…she wouldn't understand the meaning behind it if he told her. To be quite honest, he has spent so much time as a dog now that it seems highly unlikely, especially since Jeff is gone, that he would ever be human again. As far as he was concerned, Jesse was somebody else he used to be. Jesse makes a hard decision but sticks to it…he shakes his head.

"Would you mind if I gave you a name?" Muriel asks as he shakes his head, "I'll call you…Courage."

Courage…that doesn't sound bad actually, it might catch on if he lets it…he mind as well. He jumps off his chair to jump on Muriel's lap to hug her, "Oh! You're quite the friendly one, aren't you?"

…

Courage enters the attic, or what used to be his room as a human, and inspects the boxes and other supplies that he had from his apartment. He lets the atmosphere sink in slowly; he is transfixed on his room for several minutes. It appeared as though his parents knew about his sudden disappearance and brought and kept his stuff here. It seems obvious too that Muriel and Eustace are heartbroken by it, but pray for the best.

The pink-colored dog looks into a box and finds his computer, which he sets up and connects to the wall. After turning it on, Courage sits down on a chair and types on the keyboard, "Hello Computer."

A voice erupts from its speakers, _Who are you._ It asks.

"I'm Jesse." The canine types on the keyboard again.

 _I'm a microwave._ The computer talks back.

"Something happened to me, now I'm stuck like this." Courage says while typing on the keyboard.

 _Okay, dog, I'll play along. So, what do you need from me?_

"Actually…nothing really, I just wanted to make sure you're okay." Courage says.

 _You twit, I despise you already._

…

The next day…

Pink and yellow dominate the sky today and it is quiet outside with some light breeze to compliment the tranquility. Courage, formally known as Jesse, rests on Muriel's lap next to the table in the kitchen and is quite happy with his new lifestyle. Across the table sits Eustace, who's reading a newspaper with the headlines, UFO SIGHTED, on the front page. Suddenly, a mouse with blue eyes appears from near the refrigerator in search for food. Courage looks down, stares for a brief moment, and then howls with fear at the sight of the rodent. He immediately jumps and lands on Eustace's head to get as far away from the mouse as possible. Muriel does the kind thing and grabs the mouse to put it outside. With anger, the old farmer takes the dog off his head, places him down on the ground, and then takes out a large mask to scare him, which is successful because Courage ends up running outside to safety. After laughing, he takes off the mask and the grumpy old man says to himself, "Why did Muriel get that mutt anyway…we need money…that's what we need…not some stupid dog."

Now outside on the front porch Courage stands on two legs and pants for air. Eventually calming down, he rests his head down to sleep. After a few minutes, a strange otherworldly noise can be heard above the farm house.

Courage opens one eye and then closes it, but soon opens both to the sight of a large UFO landing just next to his house. His eyes widen as the ship's door opens. He jumps back in fear to the sight of an alien chicken coming out of the spaceship; its eyes are red and menacing. In response he jumps as his fur sticks out all over the place and he yells loudly.

…

The End


End file.
